Firefly Lane characters

Also known as Tully

Appears from the start

A charismatic fourteen-year-old who arrives on Firefly Lane with her unreliable mother, Cloud. Tully has learned to hide abandonment and insecurity behind confidence, beauty, and a determination to be noticed. She dreams of becoming a television journalist and treats achievement as a route to the secure, important life she has never had.

Also known as Katie

Appears from the start

A shy fourteen-year-old living with her close-knit family on Firefly Lane. Bookish and uncomfortable with the social rules of the 1970s, Kate longs for the ease and popularity that Tully seems to possess. Their unexpected friendship gives her a confidante and begins shaping the course of her adult life.

Also known as Cloud

Appears from the start

Tully's mother, Dorothy, who calls herself Cloud. Immersed in the counterculture and frequently affected by drugs, she moves in and out of her daughter's life while insisting on freedom from conventional obligations. Tully wants her attention and repeatedly tries to turn Cloud's brief returns into a dependable family.

First appears in chapter 2

Kate's warm, outspoken mother. Margie offers the ordinary household attention that embarrasses Kate but fascinates Tully. She is protective of both girls and makes the Mularkey home a place Tully can enter without having to perform.

First appears in chapter 2

Kate's steady father, whose humor and affection help define the security of the Mularkey household. He treats Tully as one of Kate's friends rather than as a problem created by Cloud's neglect.

First appears in chapter 2

Kate's older brother, socially confident in ways she is not. His life and secrets gradually complicate Kate's assumptions about how easily other people fit the roles expected of them.

First appears in chapter 5

An older, popular boy whose attention initially flatters Tully. At a party he ignores her refusal and sexually assaults her, an act that leaves her injured and ashamed. Kate's response to the aftermath becomes a defining test of their new friendship.

First appears in chapter 11

A college teacher who recognizes Tully's intelligence and ambition. Their attraction creates an unequal and complicated relationship while Tully and Kate are trying to define their adult futures.

First appears in chapter 14

A driven television producer whom Tully and Kate meet as they enter broadcast journalism. Johnny is ambitious, restless, and drawn toward consequential news. His charm and professional intensity quickly affect both women's plans and their friendship.

First appears in chapter 14

A cameraman at the local television station where Kate and Tully begin their careers. Kind and dependable, Mutt takes Kate seriously and offers her a gentler kind of attention than the competitive newsroom usually provides.

First appears in chapter 26

Kate and Johnny's daughter. As she reaches adolescence, Marah is embarrassed by her mother's caution and attracted to the confidence and glamour of her famous godmother Tully. The resulting loyalties sharpen ordinary family disagreements.

First appears in chapter 31

A television journalist whose career repeatedly crosses Tully's. Danny matches her competitiveness and understands the costs of public ambition, making him both a professional rival and one of the few people able to challenge her directly.